Author: Stefan

This week, I’ve actually maneuvered myself into quite a peculiar dilemma. I was firmly committed to my plan to follow up my past few, emotionally heavy, word-laden blog posts with something completely different. For balance so to say. What I had in mind was some kind of follow-up post that not only had nothing to do with my previous ones but which didn’t have any need for a meaning or a  punchline. One that existed without any context to anything. A leightweighted one that was able to lift the heavyness behind rationality, even if only for a brief moment. A post that should also arrive here as unexpected as the Spanish Inquisition (not the real one, but the one from the Monty Python sketch) and that featured one of my many, strangely-awkward, a little funny but totally unexplainable associations of my mind (like how that place from the photo above somehow always reminds me of an old, mystical elephant graveyard). A post that’s short and sweet. With a dash of Dadaism. Exciting in taste, somewhat funny on swallowing, and above all: easy to digest.

But then the unexpected happend, things changed. It is said that in life everything is interconnected, relates to each other. People, their stories – everything. I couldn’t agree more. After reading Sarah’s last, deeply personal blog post, my original idea no longer felt right. In any way. I simply couldn’t and didn’t want to leave Sarah and her post standing there alone and unadressed – like, yes, like a solitary porta-potty on a vast, open storage site.

A transformation was needed. Urgently.

How could I bid farewell to my original idea, perhaps approach it from a whole new direction instead, and thus create a new connection, contact with Sarah’s post – without making the whole of it feel ridiculous or even trivial. Where is that one, probably very small, intersection? Between the emotions of Sarah’s post, my reaction after reading it, my strange photo, and maybe also my original idea to maintain a certain balance between all of it. How can deeply personal memories, the moving act of retracing steps and the mood of Ichigo Ichie go together with a rainy-day photo of dozens of Austrian chemical toilets – in a way that has some warmhearted, lightweighted, meaningful and – above all – truly compassionate outcome?

It has taken me longer once again. Until the essence of the matter came to light. And until it felt “right”. Somewhat “right”……

What’s going on here is something deeply human and personal. A story as life is, as life happens. The usual gets interrupted. A sudden change of situations. Urgency, Tension. No more holding it in. Something that needs to be dealt with carefully. Preferrably alone. Just by oneself. Certainly in a safe place. Some kind of shelter. A discreet place of tranquility, peace and quietness. A place that’s fine for such deeply human encounters and personal needs. Letting go of things. Lightness. Peace.

What happens next is even harder to put into words: one hears a cautious, gentle and respectful knocking from outside. No, it’s not an intruder – it’s an ally, a friend. No harm at all. Just understanding. The oldschool, altruistic kind. The lock’s undone from the inside, the door gets opened a tiny crack wide. Alright, now it’s obvious what was missing all along. It’s not something that’s life-saving per se but something that’s…that’s crucial nevertheless – particularily in such vulnerable and sensitive situations. Carefully, without any piercing glances and again with respect and silent sympathy something gets passed inside: a fresh roll of toilet paper. For those in need.

“As long as you can savor the humorous aspect of misery and misfortune, you can overcome anything.” John Candy

“Hm! She is made of harder stuff! Cardinal Fang! Fetch…the comfy chair!” Cardinal Ximénez of the Spanish Inquisition

53G4+XPP Wels

This is one of the walls in my bathroom. A room that has become a very special playground for me after a 14-day long, desolate quarantine back in late 2020. Back then, I decided that I needed at least one room in my humble apartment that boasts some extra personality, that somehow “transcends the limits of the conventional”, that shakes and uplifts not just my mind and mood but also the imagination of any visitor. It’s nice to have such little, more or less eccentric do-it-yourself endeavors around and to see them come to life and evolve – just like it happened last Saturday. Again, I am amazed by how my recent “special paint job” somehow aligns with Sarah’s previous post, which metaphorically addressed the Unknown, the Invisible, and the myriad things many minds might be searching for – be it materialistically, spiritually, or intellectually. A topic, a post that’s actually not too far off from the things my mind was busy with in the past few weeks. Once again I want to go “full meta” with my post. Here’s an Ode to my current life, situation and, of course, my little bathroom…

My solid old friend. Always here, so familiar. Yet there’s Something New here now. Something that crossed my mind recently. A daring thing, the idea of adding a new layer here. Runny colours. Careful now. Little Steps. It’s all about wavelenghts. Different wavelenghts. And how to make use of them. Hello you New Nuances of White. I just double-checked it. It’s still there. Unaffected. Both during day- and nighttime – the old White’s remained the same. Phew. So here it comes. That newly introduced switch. If wanted a miraculous lamp goes on. A leap into a new part of the spectrum begins. And on the canvas: a whole new layer of paint emerges –  former Invisibilities finally begin to shine. A certain shock, a little smile – wasn’t that a lame disco thing of the 80s? What a strange renaissance and discovery. Something vibrant that’s actually been there and around all the time. Just the push of a little button away, no draining search required to find it. A Surprise in Lightness so to say. Could be one bonus aspect that might potentially make things, my bathroom’s “ramparts”, even more heartwarming – both to me and any other visiting person’s sense of wonder.

WQ9X+WP2 Gmunden

“Who are you? Do you mean well with me? What are you thinking? What do you want to tell me? What’s going to happen now?

Born from the unknown and uncertainty, these are probably the most basic of questions that might arise at each end, in each observers’ mind. When such moments happen: I know how moving these can be. No matter how short or long these are. Often a mere passing by is enough, when two glances meet for just a fraction of a second. Where does this incredible power behind being human come from? That power that can catapult so many minds out of any comfort zones instantaneously and uncontrollably? What situation have I arrived in now? Let me introduce you to Uncertainty and Vulnerability – two often overlooked, often desperately avoided human qualities (but which are so very dear to my heart). A key to more? It’s loneliness that can take one’s hand so beautifully and securely. How do I shape this interpersonal poker game of our encounter? Let’s put our cards on the table. What does your world look like? Can I show you what mine looks like and feels?

 

This week’s blog post is almost certainly a bit different and on a whole different, personal level. Often, like Sarah’s wonderful, last entry from Matunuck, it’s the beauty of a place or nature itself that is a huge source of inspiration for me. But then last Saturday I was hardly able to spend any time outdoors because I was at work in my main job at a nursing home – a place that has been a constant source of inspiration for me for over a decade now too, mostly in a very human sense.

By the way, that’s Mrs. Anna in the photo. Those who know her better can see in this photo several, very subtle hints of what happened a felt second after I pressed the shutter button: a  heartwarming, “unfiltered” smile blossomed on her face. A true Mona Lisa moment, from this dearly valued and always inspiring ‘Zen Master of Advanced Age’ that she is for me. An additional, sincere thank you also goes to her family for giving me the permission to include this very intimate picture here in our blog.

 

2XWJ+G6 Eberstalzell

Passed by a hundred times. Never seen it.

What a beautiful example of how inspiring my immediate surroundings actually are. I’d even go so far as to say it’s ‘a soulmate of a place.’ Old-school, shabby, and awfully ordinary at first glance, but then…

Let me please elaborate all of that a bit more…

An obstacle and grayish worry. Legitimate fears (the kind parents usually have). A mindset that (maybe) said: Here is how the world is. Why is it always just about avoiding certain nightmarish scenarios? Wouldn’t it be not only wiser but also easier to simply go with and join these ‘Forces of Nature’ – Gravity and Fun, as it is here. To see and accept the Inevitable. And eventually, to also recognize and accept any adult’s helplessness against the power of all those (childish) needs – needs like exploring the world or going on adventures. To create something that brings it all together – that marries both worlds, the adult and the not-yet-so-adult one. Something that’s way more attractive (and generally also funnier) than just jumping off any steep, concrete wall. 

When misgivings are transformed light-heartedly, considerately, and understandingly into something safe and hilarious. – for both adults and children. Wonderful.

WQMV+7P9 Gmunden

Up until a few years ago, on FM4 – which, by the way, is the Austrian radio station I am listening to the most – there was a special radio show that was broadcasted live, every year, for the whole morning of December 24th. It was named “Christmas Without Friends” and was aimed at all listeners for whom Christmas was indeed a lonely festival or who “just” felt lonely during that very special time of the year. It was always two hosts who sat behind the microphones. Two who had a particularly warmhearted connection to each other – something they would ideally also “transmit” out into the ether, to share those “vibes” with their listeners for a few precious hours that day. Even though I am also a person, who has got not the best relationship with many facets of modern day Christmas this radioshow kept on fascinating and moving me each time I had a chance to listen to it. Not only that. The show’s hosts and producers taught me that such sensitive topics like loneliness can be addressed in a very easygoing and dignified way – even on the radio. I, too, had years were I belonged to this group of lonely listeners – no matter if it was me being at work at Christmas or simply because I just felt alone near the end of the year.

This post is dedicated to all those who have felt or feel similar in the coming days. This also and particularily includes every lonely person who has no one nearby who might join them eating and enjoying any of this year’s Christmas Cookies.

328P+8F Sattledt

Until now, it has been an unexpected and rather intense winter this year over here in Austria.

Could it be that the owner of this accommodation also had to suddenly rethink and rearrange his or her priorities due to the sudden change of weather conditions? What might have been of bigger importance there? The safety of having dry firewood always nearby instead of having to dig it out from the snow outside? Even if doing so would mean that nobody could look inside and out of that window for at least a few months? Or could it be that one of the residents in there might have a very rare and unfortunate light allergy? That it’s actually a good thing too – that hardly any daylight can enter the interior of the apartment? Or another possible scenario: it’s the home of an old, lonely forester (a profession his father and grandfather also had before him) who simply loves when the scent of wood is inside his old home throughout the whole year? Or could it be a subtle political statement – one that’s against society’s closed-mindedness towards burning ecological issues of our time? Inspiring Uncertainty.

By the way. “Shhhh. I’m listening to reason.” would have been the actual title I had in mind for my blog post over here this week. Until I changed my mind and also my priorities….

This week’s blog post revolves around this titular theme and how it relates to and influences my very own creative process behind most of my blog posts here at the “Photograf in Two Worlds”-Blog.

A key sentence in this regard is as follows: “Images need to speak to me.” A realization that spontaneously and unplanned escapted my mind and mouth a few weeks ago in Rhode Island while I was talking to Sarah about pictures she was showing me.

Now, on “my Saturdays” I seldomly take just a single picture. Usually I collect several interesting ones which always leads me to the following question: which of my photos might start “speaking” to me. Will there be more than one picture that starts “speaking” to me or will it be a bunch of shy, maybe even completely “quiet” pictures for me? Well, from my experience here it’s never the latter. Things are always in motion. Even if I can’t hear any picture “talk” to me for a while.

This is often when the trickiest part of the whole process begins for me: the waiting. And enduring it. Until “the conversation” begins. That uncertainty if and when it will happen. And the unavoidable follow-up question if a picture’s story might fit into the so called “bigger picture”. It’s that stage of my creative process I’m still learning most from. Not so much technically and artistically, but more humanly. About myself. That it is actually much more important and meaningful to honestly say “hi” to it (that uncertainty), to take it as it is (an integral part of my creativity actually), to sit beside it and try to better understand it (and myself) in the end – that this approach is more important than trying to avoid that uncertainty at any costs, over and over again – with the unsatisfying result of feeling rushed and letting mostly half-heartedly things out into this world.

So, last Saturday I’ve been at a nearby Christmas market. A motif that would have certainly been a nice one for our blog. Christmas in Austria. Winter, snow, small stalls, fires, hot chestnuts, raclette-cheese sandwiches, mulled wine and dozens of different punch flavors all around that place. Many of the final images taken there spoke to me quite quickly and quite clearly… but after some time I had to admit to myself that none of them was “the right”, that none of them was the puzzle piece I hoped them to be.

So I lay my initial idea aside. The search continued. All along with new priorities. No Christmas market. At least not this time.

And so, on the same day, I stumbled upon this motif in a completely different place, and it immediately started speaking to me. Like a waterfall. For several days I didn’t exactly know what it was saying to me (it sounded more like a foreign language actually), but there was indeed “something” there. Something that not only “spoke” to me but something that also connected nicely with Sarah’s last post here on the blog. It just needed some more time to hatch. And then it finally “clicked”. All of this is about priorities. Shifted priorities. My own and those that “speak” from this picture, from this window. How they shift. How these are sometimes more, sometimes less obvious. How these are sometimes more sometimes less pressuring.

Shifting priorities. Always good for an enlightening conversation. Or as some little, funny, thoughtful stimulus for a photographer’s or reader’s imagination.

(Thank you, Mr. Wondrak)

2R82+GHX Roitham

 

There was a small exchange of thoughts between me and Sarah shortly after I returned to Austria. One that still resonates strongly within me. “Doesn’t it all feel like a dream?” was one of the rhetorical questions Sarah posed. – followed by a “I can only imagine how you are feeling now.”

Of course, such a train of thought might be very fitting for a post here on our blog: what was it like to find my way back into the “old traffic flow” in Austria? Was it necessary to reintegrate or even resocialize me over here? And above all of course: How did it, or how does it still feel for me here now, almost two weeks after my return?

I think my humble attempt to answer this might sound quite unexpected. It’s certainly a “mixed bag” of many things. Perhaps it might even be a bit perplexing for some. The latter is indeed true for me as well. It still is.

The first week felt as if I was actually cozily wrapped in a tired yet vibrant dream of two different worlds. In the second week the “veil of jet-lag” gradually lifted and at the same time the waiting, friendly arms of family, friends, and colleagues gently (and yet too quickly) led me back to the familiar. So seamlessly that I increasingly and more frequently asked myself the doubting question: “Was I ever really away?” Speaking German again, my overall feelings, me reconnecting with work within just a few moments – everything felt as if I had only been away for a weekend, if at all.

As much as life here has progressively and gently wrapped its arms around me again it would be all too easy to assume that the old and ordinary is filling out every inch of my mind again. As deeply as I sometimes believe I am stuck in this sad doubt of “Was I ever really away?” it’s the smallest of things that can so suprisingly and effortlessly catapult me out of that situation again. Things like a simple roundabout sign near my working place that instantly reminds me of the – so called – rotary near Wakefield. A local friend named Georg, who immediately reminds me of all the Georges I had the pleasure of briefly meeting in America. A typical wooden fence from over here which inevitably makes me think of the Rhode Island, the Atlantic and those beloved fences at the beaches, by the sea. And of course: every time I write to Sarah or, as it happened past week, when I read her latest blog post about Murphy’s Law and the Sons of Liberty Distillery – a place we might not have visited (yet) but one to which we have been “that close”, only a few weeks ago! It’s these seemingly “small” things and moments of everyday life over here in Austria that always trigger such unexpectedly big memories, big smiles, so much warmth and – not to forget –  such huge inspiration inside of me!

Life is constant change and learning. That’s what they say. I want to add wonder to that. As a thinker and dreamer, as a reflector of feelings and a travelling man I probably need an entirely new category for such a kind of experience and journey now: when the distant felt and still feels very close and personally familiar – so close and familiar that my own mind seems to make no big difference to the actual near, letting all those big memories slumber quite inconspicuously along all the others inside my mind. I am curious to see how my answer to this topic and this journey might change over time. I am certain it will,  many times maybe. Fascinating, how a human’s mind works.

 

2XRM+WX6 Eberstalzell

Disclaimer: The creation of this blogpost occurred with a time delay. While the photo above was taken past Saturday, the accompanying text you are currently reading was written with a temporal gap, nearly a whole week later.

“There are many, very many things that were like that. But you know what also did me a lot of good?”

“…”

“That we discussed Sarah’s latest blog post together. Opinions, reactions, memories, sharing them together, sitting side by side, in person. You know what I mean?”

“…”

“Oh, yes. Of course, these four times we could do that in person were still not often enough. It’s always not often enough. But what a long overdue gift that has been. I, as an eternal-sentimental and equally nostalgic person, valued it so much to not only read that “Ichigo Ichie” in Sarahs post together but also to savor it, to explain it to each other – right here at the end and as a conclusion to my journey. With mutual grins and all. Oh. As beautiful as the former exchange of personal thoughts and views has been and continues to be – being able to celebrate it in the same place for a certain time is so unbelievably much more and can only be partially put into words.

“…”

“Sarah’s last blog post expresses exactly what the essence of our adventure was. Oh my. How much I admire her for that precision and sensitivity and how much I envy her ability too to simply get to the point and express essentials in less than ten lines! I will probably always remain the “eternal rambler”. The one who gets lost in endlessly long, nested sentences, with numerous enumerations, sometimes full of kitsch and cheesy things and also many, more or less irrelevant things – just like right now.

“…”

“Let me get back to the essential stuff! Her words about us experiencing so much together – so much that it would certainly be too much to mention everything and all of it, are so true too! But not only that! Her words about us being unable to do everything we had planned to do are, at least in my opinion and for my understanding of life & travelling, even true-er! It was such a pleasure for me to “accept & learn” that it’s simply impossible to get a “100% achievement” like in videogames and that’s it’s so very okay to just…not do everything! As with many things it’s making me smile in hindsight about how we grew into doing things the easygoing way. How we developed this growing, relaxed confidence to elegantly and joyfully postpone certain things to the next time we will meet. To change a formerly strict “must” into a free and reliefed “instead”. Oh, and then her words in her article about “Legendary Murphy’s Law”! Again, in retrospect, I must say  that the joy of its presence, that it was actually our loyal, third companion over certain stretches, outweighs everything else! Of course, I’ve witnessed it several times – when Sarah’s anticipation of so many planned things got changed into some sad disappointment. But my oh my. How much I loved to see how that kind of sadness, over time, evolved into some good reason to laugh freely together about Murphy’s Law and how it affected both of our lives during the past give weeks from time to time! But not only that! It was also another main reason for all the fun and joy we had – the joy of rearranging plans, discovering other, unplanned things and places due to that Murphy! I don’t know how many times we ended up in yet another beautiful surroundings or situation – ones that we could have never imagined beforehand. So wonderful! Indeed, we really made the most of everything and always made the best of our joint adventure – just as Sarah already said! There are so many memorable moments between and after unplanned, closed restaurant doors, unavailable ferries, surprising transmission-lamps or disfunctional train-engines. Let me raise my glass to Sarah’s ingenuity and unwavering flexibility in finding a Plan B! And also to the healed blisters on her feet!

“…”

“Oh yes. What a unique time, what a journey!

“And what a proof that any expectations of and around unfamiliar places and people are actually completely overrated!”

“Oh yes, how true, how true! Expectations are so often just awkward. And all too often, they also obscure the authentic beauty of the actual! The underlying may sometimes be a bit rougher than one wished and imagined, but it is the key to discovering true freedom! It’s nice, at least, that you’re chiming in now! I didn’t expect that and honestly…it also scares me a little now!

“…”

“Oh okay. It’s “back to silence” for you again, I see. But speaking about fears. There is one thing I am quite afraid afraid of. Actually I would say that it’s more a thing that I am not directly afraid of but something that gives me a big worry. Could also be that you’re playing a role in that special worry I got.”

“…”

“I already assumed that you wouldn’t say anything or that much about that now! But that’s okay! Don’t worry. What’s really making me think and worry about is, especially for me as such a forgetful member of mankind, that many things and memories may be forgotten over time and that many of my experiences and memories will certainly fade over time. And thus lose their “freshness of the now”! Ideally, yes, ideally, I would take many, if not all, of those memories and put them into small jars like cucumbers or sauerkraut and preserve them with the best spices, salt, and vinegar for many years! I know, it’s some kind of silly comparison but then I would indeed love to keep all those memories fresh just like Pickles and Sauerkraut – preserved forever, always ready to be re-opened and freshly re-lived again and again.

“…”

“I guess it’s one of those sad, silly and illusory wishes of humanity, right? Capturing the moment with a smartphone or DSLR. To safely store it onto high-bandwith memory. Or to develop it as a photo. And yet, both fade over time. Digital and analog. Faded Prints, corrupted memory blocks. Oh, this transience. Sad and yet somehow romantically beautiful at the same time.

“…”

“But then…on second thought…it’s not that sad at all. Actually it’s the opposite. Precisely the opposite. Maybe even more the opposite once our way’s have parted! Because everything goes really deep here! Maybe even to a place where it’s not about those aforementioned worries at all. This goes hand in hand with the fact that this journey is one of these rare things where I can say something in general again. It’s so seldom I can do that. In most cases something is just “partly good”. Or great but with a but. Here it’s different. And as unbelievable as it may sound – I’m grateful for just everything I’ve seen, witnessed, been part of in general!  And this not only includes but is especially due to all the small problems that occasionally arose in the past weeks. Interestingly, there really were only small problems I encountered. That one runaway bus in the rain at Rhode Island University Memorial Lane, the non-dispensing drink vending machine at Kingston Station (I should indeed have taken the warning on the machine seriously) or the Corona Virus that haunted late-night show hosts on Broadway just on the day of my visit. All of these were just some kind of “luxury problems”, as they say over here in Austria. This realization beats all my worries actually, it’s a big trump I completely forgot that I held it in my hands all the times! Parts will certainly get lost over time, parts will simply fade out. But with all the factors combined here – all those deeply personal memories, my journey being generally an outstandingly great one and my thankfulness for having such a unique blog- and travelcompanion, adventurer, guide and above all: a great and dear friend by my side – it’s very, very likely that some things will remain by nature…as cheesy as this sounds…yet again.

“…”

“One more glass to that revelation! Oh, and please an additional one to the wonders of technology in general too! That travellers like me are even able to capture hundreds of moments at every place and at any time – with tiny, little devices that are not much bigger than the palms of my hands! This glas also counts for the fact that nowadays’ technology also makes it so easy and possible to express and present oneself in so many uncomplicated ways! In the past, not too long ago? A lonely privilege for a very limited number of people and professions – to write a few travel thoughts for a newspaper article or to write a whole book about a longer journey, to name just two examples of past times. And today? Whether tired or not: you sit down, turn on the computer, start typing, and reach out to an audience through the World Wide Web with just a few mouse clicks or finger swipes away. It’s crazy. The good kind of crazy! And it doesn’t matter whether I’m writing a serious article or whether I’m writing a sentimental dialogue about the conclusion of perhaps the most beautiful journey of my life so far between me and my externalized jet lag! Oh, talking about you. To whom am I talking actually to, I mean, how do I address you now? Is *the jetlag* actually a He, She, or It?

“Whatever you want. I am okay with every one – be it this or that gender or anything in between or outside the usual!”

“Good and nice to know! Best fodder for my playful, still quite tired, imagination! Can I tell you something truly funny here at the very end of our diagloue?”

“Sure!”

“Even if all my souvenirs might be stolen or even if all my storage devices with all my vacation’s photos and videos might be erased by a blackout and even if each and every one of my imaginary jars of “pickled memories” might begin to fade away over time…there’s one heartwarming and true story “out there” that makes me grin inside and out with an undescribable, actually even absolute confidence regarding all of my thoughts and worries I mentioned before. It’s also what makes me so confident that there are parts in us humans that won’t become a victim to time and forgetfulness.”

“Which one?!”

“Ever since I’m back here in Ausrtria. Even on my flight back home or the final days I was in NYC. It’s that I feel in big, very big parts like Erwin Kreuz did many, many years ago, Hon!”

“Who is Erwin Kreuz?”

“He was a former brewery employee from Germany. I won’t reveal more here for you, friend. I’m leaving you with this cliffhanger. Just like another, very, very good and close but for parts also quite mean friend from Rhode Island usually does! Please feel free to look the whole story about and around Erwin Kreuz up on the internet, my friend. All I will say for today is that it’s a story about how sometimes the most beautiful, unique and unforgettable things can arise from unplanned things and “Happy Accidents” that happen far away from the usual, from home. And how deep and firm memories, especially memories full of gratitude and joy, can be anchored in a human being…

I’ll wrap things up here, my friend. There is one more, final “High Five” and bow to Sarah and her blogpost from two weeks ago: it’s the same question for me now. About when we can work out to meet again. But there’s also an additional one that haunts my mind. That’s it’s not just only about the “when” but also about the “where”.  Oh my. Fodder for my phantasy again. But that’s again a story of itself and maybe one for another blogpost of its own.”

Q26G+XF New York City, New York, USA

Date: 11/02/23

Place: South Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA

Dear Travel Journal,

If Sarah was to read the following, very personal lines, she would surely say that all of this is just another strange manifestation of “Catholic Guilt”. Again.  Can it really be that the spirit of a perpetually overwhelmed traveler, of an excited human being can become as thick and whitish-cloudy as a cup of New England Clam Chowder? That my brain, to quote Sarah once more, “goes to mush” from time to time? Apparently so. Because last Saturday should have been my Saturday. And I completely forgot it…

I had such big plans. Doing something truly and a 100% together. From brainstorming to “concept-development”. Pondering together, laughing together, being adventurous and curious – together. And then pouring all that into one, single unique and timeless blog-picture. After all those years, now that we are finally at the same place in real life – there simply has to be a creative product of “true togetherness” now. So much about my vision that I had in mind.

And then I fall into this all too well-known trap again: when circumstances feel so safe, so comfortable…and certain things can be postponed to an indefinite point in the future all too easily. Only to be forgotten afterwards, unfortunately…

But despite all that bitterness: there is also some light to be found in here. Two tiny, little sparks. Both of which make me feel lucky and thankful at the same time. Both of which work best when combined with the power of imagination. 

Spark number one is that there’s still a tiny, little fragment of that shared process of creativity here! After all there was at least a little chit-chat we had about that Saturday’s photo – what it should be and what it should feature. The resulting idea was both lovely and sympathetic and goes like this: two beer enthusiasts from far away places visit this year’s, late Oktoberfest in Wakefield. Nothing would have been more obvious to use as a general theme for that particular picture than two glasses of wonderful beer. An Ale, a Lager, a Hefeweizen? Maybe even a full mug of Pumpkin Beer? It’s up to everyone’s imagionation about how the final photo might have looked like. A blurred close-up up two foamy edges of our beerglasses? The two of us, sitting back to back, enjoying marvelous products of all the local breweries? Maybe even while eating a giant pretzel? Or a bowl full of original German potato salad? Everything would have been possible…

The second (and as comforting) spark is an old Lomo camera.  It’s the one on the second picture above. Our analogue companion. Something that fully embodies this aforementioned “Spirit of Togetherness” for me. It was that past Saturday when the first, finished filmroll was taken out of the camera in order to be developed at a true photoshop in all its analogue glory. At that evening neither one of us knew what these photos might look like in the end or even if any would be there at all. But more on that in a later Blog-Post. Maybe..

Dear Travel Journal,…thanks for listening…if I could give you a hug, I would do so most heartily right now.  Let me end this whiny “Uh-Oh!”-entry with a quote from a movie that both Sarah and I appreciate so very much… “Are you surprised at my tears, Sir? Strong Men also cry, Mr. Lebowski. Strong Men also cry.”

CGQ2+G97 Wakefield, Rhode Island

 

Wels Hauptbahnhof > Salzburg Hauptbahnhof (102 kilometres / 63 miles), Salzburg Hauptbahnhof > Bahnhof Freilassing (11 kilometres / 7 miles), Bahnhof Freilassing > Hauptbahnhof München (135 kilometres / 84 miles), Hauptbahnhof München > Flughafen München (40 kilometres / 25 miles), Flughafen München > John F. Kennedy International Airport (4027 miles / 6481 kilometres), John F. Kennedy International Airport > Jamaica (4 miles / 6 kilometres), Jamaica > Moynihan Train Hall (13 miles / 21 kilometres), Moynihan Train Hall > Kingston, RI (159 miles / 256 kilometres)

Surreality, Familiarity and Playing Things by Ear.

9GF7+67 Iggy’s Doughboys & Chowder House, Narragansett, RI, USA